Martin Owens isn’t a weather whiner but he wasn’t pleased with the gloomy skies in Glasgow on Friday, the day he landed in the host city of the Commonwealth Games.Owens knows the ins and outs of speed as he is the man Animesh Kujur, the 200 metre national record holder, trusts as his coach. Owens hopes it gets a little brighter by the time Kujur settles into the starting blocks.“If Animesh goes below 20 (seconds) in Glasgow on a grey, miserable afternoon, it will be a phenomenal run,” Owens said. “He just needs to focus on racing. It isn’t about chasing records. Championships are about medals,” Owens said to put in perspective what is at stake.At the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, Kujur lowered his 200 metres national record to 20.32 seconds. This year, he’s run two blistering 100 metres — 10.14 seconds in Wetzlar, Germany, and 10.15 seconds in Ranchi. The run in Wetzlar was the fastest by an Indian on foreign soil. But at the Commonwealth Games, Kujur will focus on his pet event, the 200 metres.If Kujur does not qualify for the final, Owens said he would be disappointed because the 23-year-old sprinter has improved on multiple fronts — the start, running on the curve and top speed.ALSO READ | Protistha Samanta’s CWG final journey: 4:30 am alarms, rain and a mother’s grit“He has improved his start immensely, he is running his bend so much better, his top speed is better, and his endurance is better,” Owens, the head coach at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre, said.Story continues below this ad“If you look at what his 100 metres time was when he came to the high performance centre in Odisha, you’ll see that he’s come down by something like 0.7. And then he’s improved his 200m by 0.8. He’s in good shape at the moment. A lot of that improvement is just learning to run technically,” Owens said.The coach wants Kujur to remain unflustered when the gun goes off and not let his race be dictated by what others are doing.“Obviously, because of the radius of the circle everybody starts in a stagger. So it’s about not panicking if things aren’t going right, or people appear ahead. Do the first 30 (metres) hard and then the next part is about coming off the bend. It’s all about trying to be as effective and as efficient as possible. And running your own race, especially when he gets to these better meets. You know, in India, he can just turn up and win,” Owens said.Owens is also hoping that Animesh can run in one of his preferred outer lanes. “We like the outer lanes, really. The curves are a little bit kinder. If you are on the inner lanes, you can watch what everybody else is doing and can follow what’s going on. So that’s an advantage there. But people tend to run a little wider subconsciously on the inner lane. But some people just like the easier curve. Animesh prefers lane 6 or 7,” Owens said.With the Asian Games starting in the third week of September, Owens is confident Animesh can hit peak form twice — at the CWG and then the Asiad. “It is possible for an athlete to peak twice in a year. I am hoping he will peak here (Glasgow). We will go back and do some work after the CWG and then he will peak at the Asian Games again.”Nihal Koshie is an Associate Editor and sports writer at The Indian Express. He is best known for his in-depth reporting and investigative work that often explores the intersection of sports and social issues. He is also a key member of the sports desk, which is based out of The Indian Express' office in Noida. Professional Background Role: Associate Editor (Sports) at The Indian Express. Key Achievements: He is a two-time winner of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism. He won the RNG award for 'Sports Journalism' for 2019 for his exclusive interview and follow up stories with sprinter Dutee Chand, who became the first Indian athlete to say she was in a same-sex relationship. He won his second RNG award in the 'Investigative Reporting' for 2023 for a series of exclusive stories related to sexual harassment charges levelled against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by the country's top women wrestlers. Expertise: While he covers major sports, he is particularly recognized for his extensive reporting on Athletics, investigative stories and long-form news features. Recent Notable Topics & Articles (Late 2025) Nihal Koshie’s recent work reflects a focus on investigative and human-interest stories Recent investigative pieces: He recently wrote a profile of an Indian teenager serving a jail sentence in Kenya after being embroiled in a doping scandal while chasing "Olympic dreams." Wrestling: He continues to track the political and social fallout of the Indian wrestling protests, including the recent public appearances of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the political career of wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Recent long-form features: The story of the rise of Kranti Gaud, the young fast bowler who was a key member of the ICC women's World Cup-winning team; The physics and science behind modern cricket bats Podcast Presence He is a guest and contributor to the "Game Time" podcast by The Indian Express, where he provides technical and social analysis of current sporting events. Experience: 24+ years Previous experience: Times of India (2001-2005), Daily News and Analysis (2005 to 2010) Nihal joined The Indian Express in May, 2010 Social Media X ( formerly Twitter) : @nkoshie You can follow his latest work and full archive on his official author profile. ... Read More